![Patent Office relief on the Herbert C](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Patent_Office_relief_on_the_Herbert_C._Hoover_Building.JPG)
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an
agency
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that ...
in the
U.S. Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth ...
that serves as the national
patent office and
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
, after a 2005 move from the
Crystal City area of neighboring
Arlington,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
.
The USPTO is "unique among federal agencies because it operates solely on fees collected by its users, and not on taxpayer dollars".
Its "operating structure is like a business in that it receives requests for services—applications for patents and trademark registrations—and charges fees projected to cover the cost of performing the services
tprovide
.
The Office is headed by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a position last held by
Andrei Iancu
Andrei Iancu (born April 2, 1968) is an American-Romanian engineer and intellectual property attorney, who served as the under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ...
until he left office on January 20, 2021. Commissioner of Patents Drew Hirshfeld is performing the functions of the Under Secretary and Director in the absence of an appointment or nomination to the positions.
The USPTO cooperates with the
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation (EPO) and the
Japan Patent Office
The is a Japanese governmental agency in charge of industrial property right affairs, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Japan Patent Office is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo and is one of the world's largest pa ...
(JPO) as one of the
Trilateral Patent Offices
The Trilateral Patent Offices, or simply the Trilateral Offices, are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In 1983, these patent offices set up a programme of c ...
. The USPTO is also a Receiving Office, an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examination Authority for international patent applications filed in accordance with the
Patent Cooperation Treaty
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970. It provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed und ...
.
Mission
The legal basis for the United States patent system is the
Copyright Clause
The Copyright Clause (also known as the Intellectual Property Clause, Copyright and Patent Clause, or the Progress Clause) describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 8).
The clause, wh ...
in Section 8 of
Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the power to grant patents and copyrights on a national basis.
The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
The USPTO maintains a permanent, interdisciplinary historical record of all U.S. patent applications in order to fulfill objectives outlined in the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
.
The PTO's mission is to promote "industrial and technological progress in the United States and strengthen the national economy" by:
* Administering the laws relating to patents and trademarks;
* Advising the
Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
, the President of the United States, and the administration on patent, trademark, and
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
protection; and
* Providing advice on the trade-related aspects of intellectual property.
Structure
![Interior of the US Patent and Trademark Madison Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Interior_of_the_US_Patent_and_Trademark_Madison_Building.jpg)
The USPTO is headquartered at the Alexandria Campus, consisting of 11 buildings in a city-like development surrounded by ground floor retail and high rise residential buildings between the
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
stations of
King Street station
King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is served by Amtrak's '' Cascades'', ''Coast Starlight'', and ''Empire Builder'', as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anchor ...
(the main search building is two blocks due south of the King Street station) and
Eisenhower Avenue station
Eisenhower Avenue is a rapid transit station on the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro in Alexandria, Virginia. It opened on December 17, 1983.
Location
The station is located at Eisenhower Avenue near Stovall Street, next to the Capital Bel ...
where the actual Alexandria Campus is located between Duke Street (on the North) to Eisenhower Avenue (on the South), and between John Carlyle Street (on the East) to Elizabeth Lane (on the West) in Alexandria, Virginia. An additional building in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, was opened in 2009.
The USPTO was expected by 2014 to open its first ever satellite offices in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
to reduce backlog and reflect regional industrial strengths. The first satellite office opened in Detroit on July 13, 2012.
In 2013, due to the
budget sequestration
Budget sequestration is a provision of United States law that causes an across-the-board reduction in certain kinds of spending included in the federal budget. Sequestration involves setting a hard cap on the amount of government spending with ...
, the satellite office for Silicon Valley, which is home to one of the nation's top patent-producing cities, was put on hold.
However, renovation and infrastructure updates continued after the sequestration, and the Silicon Valley location opened in the
San Jose City Hall
San José City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of San Jose, California. Located in Downtown San Jose, it was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier in a Postmodern style. It consists of an 18-story tower, an ic ...
in 2015.
, the end of the U.S. government's fiscal year, the PTO had 9,716 employees, nearly all of whom are based at its five-building headquarters complex in Alexandria. Of those, 6,242 were
patent examiner A patent examiner (or, historically, a patent clerk) is an employee, usually a civil servant with a scientific or engineering background, working at a patent office. Major employers of patent examiners are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Unit ...
s (almost all of whom were assigned to examine
utility patent
This is a list of legal terms relating to patents. A patent is not a right to practice or use the invention, but a territorial right to exclude others from commercially exploiting the invention, granted to an inventor or his successor in rights i ...
s; only 99 were assigned to examine
design patent
In the United States, a design patent is a form of legal protection granted to the ornamental design of an article of manufacture. Design patents are a type of industrial design right. Ornamental designs of jewelry, furniture, beverage containers ...
s) and 388 were
trademark examining attorneys; the rest are support staff.
While the agency has noticeably grown in recent years, the rate of growth was far slower in fiscal 2009 than in the recent past; this is borne out by data from fiscal 2005 to the present:
As of the end of FY 2018, the USPTO was composed of 12,579 federal employees, including 8,185 patent examiners, 579 trademark examiners, and 3,815 other staff.
Patent examiners make up the bulk of the employees at USPTO. They hold degrees in various scientific disciplines, but do not necessarily hold law degrees. Unlike patent examiners,
trademark examiner A trademark examiner is an attorney employed by a government entity such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to determine whether an applicant should be permitted to receive a trademark registration, thus affording legal protect ...
s must be licensed attorneys.
All examiners work under a strict, "count"-based production system. For every application, "counts" are earned by composing, filing, and mailing a first office action on the merits, and upon disposal of an application.
The Commissioner for Patents oversees three main bodies, headed by former Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations, currently Peggy Focarino, the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, currently Andrew Hirshfeld as Acting Deputy, and finally the Commissioner for Patent Resources and Planning, which is currently vacant. The Patent Operations of the office is divided into nine different technology centers that deal with various arts.
Prior to 2012, decisions of patent examiners could be appealed to the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) was an administrative law body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which decided issues of patentability. Under the America Invents Act, the BPAI was replaced with the Pat ...
, an
administrative law body of the USPTO. Decisions of the BPAI could further be appealed to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the Federal judiciary of ...
, or a civil suit could be brought against the Commissioner of Patents in the
. The
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
may ultimately decide on a patent case. Under the
America Invents Act
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, the BPAI was converted to the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is an administrative law body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which decides issues of patentability. It was formed on September 16, 2012, as one part of the America Invents Act. P ...
or "PTAB".
Similarly, decisions of trademark examiners may be appealed to the
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) is an administrative tribunal within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The TTAB is empowered to determine the right to register a trademark. It has no authority to determine the righ ...
, with subsequent appeals directed to the Federal Circuit, or a civil action may also be brought.
In recent years, the USPTO has seen increasing delays between when a patent application is filed and when it issues. To address its workload challenges, the USPTO has undertaken an aggressive program of hiring and recruitment. The USPTO hired 1,193 new patent examiners in Fiscal Year 2006 (year ending September 30, 2006),
1,215 new examiners in fiscal 2007,
and 1,211 in fiscal year 2008.
The USPTO expected to continue hiring patent examiners at a rate of approximately 1,200 per year through 2012; however, due to a slowdown in new application filings since the onset of the
late-2000s economic crisis, and projections of substantial declines in
maintenance fees in coming years,
the agency imposed a hiring freeze in early March 2009.
In 2006, USPTO instituted a new training program for patent examiners called the "Patent Training Academy". It is an eight-month program designed to teach new patent examiners the fundamentals of patent law, practice and examination procedure in a college-style environment. Because of the impending USPTO budget crisis previously alluded to, it had been rumored that the Academy would be closed by the end of 2009.
Focarino, then Acting Commissioner for Patents, denied in a May 2009 interview that the Academy was being shut down, but stated that it would be cut back because the hiring goal for new examiners in fiscal 2009 was reduced to 600. Ultimately, 588 new patent examiners were hired in fiscal year 2009.
In 2016, the USPTO partnered with the
Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...
to create an "Intellectual Property Patch"
merit badge, which is awarded to Girl Scouts at four different levels.
Management
In October 2021,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Joe Biden nominated attorney
Kathi Vidal
Kathi Vidal is an American intellectual property lawyer and former engineer who serves as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Education
Vidal earned a Bac ...
to serve as the USPTO director. She was sworn in on April 13, 2022.
Fee diversion
For many years,
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
has "diverted" about 10% of the fees that the USPTO collected into the general treasury of the United States. In effect, this took money collected from the patent system to use for the general budget. This fee diversion has been generally opposed by patent practitioners (e.g.,
patent attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and op ...
s and
patent agent
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and op ...
s), inventors, the USPTO, as well as former federal judge
Paul R. Michel
Paul Redmond Michel (born February 3, 1941) is a retired United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and a former Chief Judge of that court.
Education and experience
Born ...
. These stakeholders would rather use the funds to improve the patent office and patent system, such as by implementing the USPTO's 21st Century Strategic Plan. The last six annual budgets of the
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
administration did not propose to divert any USPTO fees, and the first budget of the
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
administration continued this practice, as well as the second budget of the Trump administration; however, stakeholders continue to press for a permanent end to fee diversion.
The discussion of which party can appropriate the fees is more than a financial question. Patent fees represent a policy lever that influences both the number of applications submitted to the office as well as their quality.
Patents
![Inventors Hall of Fame in Madison Bldg at USPTO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Inventors_Hall_of_Fame_in_Madison_Bldg_at_USPTO.jpg)
* On July 31, 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued to
Samuel Hopkins for an improvement "in the making of
Pot ash and
Pearl ash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. by a new Apparatus and Process". This patent was signed by then-President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
.
* The
X-Patents (the first 9,957 (approximately), issued between 1790 and 1836) were destroyed by a fire; fewer than 3,000 of those have been recovered and re-issued with numbers that include an "X". The X generally appears at the end of the numbers hand-written on full-page patent images; however, in patent collections and for search purposes, the X is considered to be the patent type – analogous to the "D" of design patents – and appears at the beginning of the number. The X distinguishes the patents from those issued after the fire, which began again with patent number 1.
* Each year, the PTO issues
over 150,000 patents to companies and individuals worldwide. , the PTO has granted 8,743,423 patents and has received 16,020,302 applications.
* On June 19, 2018, the 10 millionth U.S. patent was issued to Joseph Marron for invention of a "Coherent LADAR
ystemUsing Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection" to improve laser detection and ranging (LADAR). The patent was the first to receive the newly redesigned patent cover. It was signed by then-President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
during a special ceremony at the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
.
Trademarks
The USPTO examines applications for trademark registration, which can be filed under five different filing bases: use in commerce, intent to use, foreign application, foreign registration, or international registration. If approved, the trademarks are registered on either the
Principal Register In United States trademark law, the Principal Register is the primary register of trademarks maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is governed by Subchapter I of the Lanham Act.
Having a mark registered under the Principa ...
or the
Supplemental Register
In United States trademark law, the Supplemental Register is the secondary register of trademarks maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It was established in 1946 by Subchapter II of the Lanham Act, to allow the domestic reg ...
, depending upon whether the mark meets the appropriate distinctiveness criteria. This federal system governs goods and services distributed via interstate commerce, and operates alongside state level trademark registration systems.
Trademark applications have grown substantially in recent years, jumping from 296,490 new applications in 2000, to 345,000 new applications in 2014, to 458,103 new applications in 2018. Recent growth has been driven partially by growing numbers of trademark applications originating in China; trademark applications from China have grown more than 12-fold since 2013, and in 2017, one in every nine trademark applications reviewed by the U.S. Trademark Office originated in China.
Since 2008, the Trademark Office has hosted a National Trademark Expo every two years, billing it as "a free, family-friendly event designed to educate the public about trademarks and their importance in the global marketplace." The Expo features celebrity speakers such as
Anson Williams
Anson Williams (born Anson William Heimlich, September 25, 1949, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, singer, and director, best known for his role as gullible, well-intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series ...
(of the television show ''
Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...
'') and basketball player
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran.
Given name Karim
* Karim A ...
and has numerous trademark-holding companies as exhibitors. Before the 2009 National Trademark Expo, the Trademark Office designed and launched a kid-friendly trademark mascot known as T. Markey, who appears as an anthropomorphized registered trademark symbol. T. Markey is featured prominently on the Kids section of the USPTO website, alongside fellow IP mascots Ms. Pat Pending (with her robot cat GeaRS) and Mark Trademan.
In 2020, trademark applications marked the sharpest declines and inclines in American history. During the spring,
COVID-19 lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
led to reduced filings, which then increased in July 2020 to exceed the previous year. August 2020 was subsequently the highest month of trademark filings in the history of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Representation
The USPTO only allows certain qualified persons to practice before the USPTO. ''Practice'' includes filing of patent and trademark applications on behalf of individuals and companies, prosecuting the patent and trademark applications, and participating in administrative appeals and other proceedings before the PTO examiners, examining attorneys and boards. The USPTO sets its own standards for who may practice. Any person who practices patent law before the USPTO must become a registered patent attorney or agent. A patent agent is a person who has passed the
USPTO registration examination In order to be registered as a patent agent or patent attorney in the United States, one must pass the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) registration examination, officially called the Examination for Registration to Practice in Pate ...
(the "patent bar") but has not passed any state bar exam to become a licensed attorney; a patent attorney is a person who has passed both a state bar and the patent bar and is in good standing as an attorney.
A patent agent can only act in a representative capacity in patent matters presented to the USPTO, and may not represent a patent holder or applicant in a court of law. To be eligible for taking the patent bar exam, a candidate must possess a degree in "engineering or physical science or the equivalent of such a degree".
Any person who practices trademark law before the USPTO must be an active member in good standing of the highest court of any state.
The United States allows any citizen from any country to sit for the patent bar (if he/she has the requisite technical background). Only Canada has a reciprocity agreement with the United States that confers upon a patent agent similar rights.
An unrepresented inventor may file a patent application and prosecute it on his or her own behalf (''
pro se
''Pro se'' legal representation ( or ) comes from Latin ''pro se'', meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which, in modern law, means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, o ...
''). If it appears to a patent examiner that an inventor filing a ''pro se'' application is not familiar with the proper procedures of the Patent Office, the examiner may suggest that the filing party obtain representation by a registered patent attorney or patent agent. The patent examiner cannot recommend a specific attorney or agent, but the Patent Office does post a list of those who are registered.
While the inventor of a relatively simple-to-describe invention may well be able to produce an adequate specification and detailed drawings, there remains language complexity in what is
claimed, either in the particular claim language of a utility application, or in the manner in which drawings are presented in a design application. There is also skill required when searching for prior art that is used to support the application and to prevent applying for a patent for something that may be unpatentable. A patent examiner will make special efforts to help ''pro se'' inventors understand the process but the failure to adequately understand or respond to an Office action from the USPTO can endanger the inventor's rights, and may lead to abandonment of the application.
Electronic filing system
The USPTO accepts patent applications filed in electronic form. Inventors or their patent agents/attorneys can file applications as
Adobe PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
documents. Filing fees can be paid by credit card or by a USPTO "deposit account".
Patent search tools
![PSF at USPTO Madison Bldg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PSF_at_USPTO_Madison_Bldg.jpg)
The USPTO web site provides free electronic copies of issued patents and patent applications as multiple-page
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...
(graphic) documents. The site also provides Boolean search and analysis tools.
The USPTO's free distribution service only distributes the patent documents as a set of TIFF files. Numerous free and commercial services provide patent documents in other formats, such as
Adobe PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
and
CPC.
Criticisms
The USPTO has been criticized for granting patents for impossible or absurd, already known, or arguably obvious inventions.
[Philip E. Ross]
''Patently Absurd''
, Forbes.com, May 29, 2000. Economists have documented that, although the USPTO makes mistakes when granting patents, these mistakes might be less prominent than some might believe.
Controversial patents
*, "Method of exercising a cat", covers having a cat chase the beam from a
laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small handheld device with a power source (usually a battery) and a laser diode emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered laser beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by ...
. The patent has been criticized as being obvious.
*, "
Sealed crustless sandwich
A sealed crustless sandwich is a foodstuff comprising a filling sealed between two layers of bread by a crimped edge, with the crust subsequently removed. A popular variety in the United States is peanut butter and jelly. Sealed crustless sandwi ...
", issued in 1999, covers the design of a sandwich with crimped edges.
However, all claims of the patent were subsequently canceled by the PTO upon reexamination.
*, "Hyper-light-speed antenna", an antenna that sends signals faster than the
speed of light
The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...
.
According to the description in the patent, "The present invention takes a transmission of energy, and instead of sending it through normal time and space, it pokes a small hole into another dimension, thus, sending the energy through a place which allows transmission of energy to exceed the speed of light."
*, "Method of swinging on a swing", issued April 9, 2002,
was granted to a seven-year-old boy, whose father, a patent attorney, wanted to demonstrate how the patent system worked to his son who was five years old at the time of the application. The PTO initially rejected it due to prior art, but eventually issued the patent.
However, all claims of the patent were subsequently canceled by the PTO upon reexamination.
*, "Space vehicle propelled by the pressure of inflationary vacuum state", describes an
anti-gravity
Anti-gravity (also known as non-gravitational field) is a hypothetical phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to ...
device. In November 2005, the USPTO was criticized by physicists for granting it. The journal ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' first highlighted this patent issued for a device that presumably amounts to a
perpetual motion
Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...
machine, defying the laws of physics. The device comprises a particular electrically
superconducting
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where Electrical resistance and conductance, electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic field, magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material e ...
shield and electromagnetic generating device. The examiner allowed the claims because the design of the shield and device was novel and not obvious. In situations such as this where a substantial question of
patentability
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. By extension, patentability also refers to the substantive conditions that must be met fo ...
is raised after a patent is issued, the Commissioner of the Patent Office can order a
reexamination
In United States patent law, a reexamination is a process whereby anyone—third party or inventor—can have a U.S. patent reexamined by a patent examiner to verify that the subject matter it claims is patentable. To have a patent reexamined, ...
of the patent.
Controversial trademarks
* , "Cloud Computing" for
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
, covering "custom manufacture of computer hardware for use in
data center
A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...
s and mega-scale computing environments for others", was allowed by a trademark attorney on July 8, 2008.
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mul ...
is a generic term that could define technology infrastructure for years to come, which had been in general use at the time of the application. The application was rejected on August 12, 2008, as descriptive and generic.
* , "
Netbook
Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
" for
Psion, covering "laptop computers" was registered on November 21, 2000. Although the company discontinued the ''netBook'' line in November 2003 and allowed the trademark to become
genericized
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
through use by journalists and vendors (products marketed as 'netbooks' include the
Dell Inspiron Mini Series
The Dell Inspiron Mini Series is a line of subnotebook/netbook computers designed by Dell. The series was introduced in September 2008 amidst the growing popularity of low-cost netbook computers introduced by competitors.
9 Series
The Dell In ...
,
Asus eeePC
The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive ( ...
,
HP Mini 1000
HP Mini is a former line of small computers categorized as netbooks manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. They either contained a custom version of Ubuntu Linux, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Windows 7 Starter operating system. Like most netbo ...
,
MSI Wind Netbook
The MSI Wind Netbook was a family of subnotebooks / netbooks designed by Micro-Star International (MSI). Wind stands for "Wi-Fi Network Device". The first model was announced at CeBIT 2008, and first listed for pre-orders on May 9, 2008. Whil ...
and others),
USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
subsequently rejected a number of trademarks citing a "likelihood of confusion" under section 2(d), including 'G NETBOOK' ( rejected October 31, 2008),
MSI's 'WIND NETBOOK' () and
Coby Electronics' 'COBY NETBOOK' () rejected January 13, 2009. Psion also delivered a batch of
cease-and-desist letters
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
on December 23, 2008, relating to the
genericized trademark
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
.
Slow patent examination and backlog
![Patents Granted 1790-2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Patents_Granted_1790-2008.JPG)
The USPTO has been criticized for taking an inordinate amount of time in examining patent applications. This is particularly true in the fast-growing area of
business method patent
Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking and tax compliance etc. Business method patents are a relatively new species of paten ...
s. As of 2005, patent examiners in the business method area were still examining patent applications filed in 2001.
The delay was attributed by spokesmen for the Patent Office to a combination of a sudden increase in business method patent filings after the 1998
''State Street Bank'' decision, the unfamiliarity of patent examiners with the business and financial arts (e.g., banking,
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
, stock trading etc.), and the issuance of a number of controversial patents (''e.g.'', "
Amazon one click patent") in the business method area.
Effective August 2006, the USPTO introduced an
accelerated patent examination procedure in an effort to allow inventors a speedy evaluation of an application with a final disposition within twelve months. The procedure requires additional information to be submitted with the application and also includes an interview with the examiner. The first accelerated patent was granted on March 15, 2007, with a six-month issuance time.
As of the end of 2008, there were 1,208,076 patent applications pending at the Patent Office. At the end of 1997, the number of applications pending was 275,295. Therefore, over those eleven years there was a 439% increase in the number of pending applications.
December 2012 data showed that there was 597,579 unexamined patent applications in the backlog. During the four years since 2009, more than a 50% reduction was achieved. First action pendency was reported as 19.2 months.
Fraud by remote working employees
In 2012, the USPTO initiated an internal investigation into allegations of fraud by employees taking advantage of its
remote work
Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
policies. Investigators discovered that some patent examiners had lied about the hours they had worked, but high level officials prevented access to computer records, thus limiting the number of employees who could be punished.
See also
*
Confederate Patent Office
The Confederate Patent Office was the agency of the Confederate States of America charged with issuing patents on inventions. The Chief Clerk during its entire existence was Rufus Randolph Rhodes of Mississippi who resigned his post at the United S ...
*
Criticism of the United States government § Criticism of agencies
*
Electronic Filing System (USPTO) The Electronic Filing System of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), also referred to as EFS-Web or simply EFS, is a web-based system for submitting patent applications and related documents electronically.
All users may file new ...
*''
Ex Parte Quayle''
*
Google Patents
Google Patents is a search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications.
Contents
Google Patents indexes more than 87 million patents and patent applications with full text from 17 patent offices, including:
* United States P ...
*
John Ruggles
John Ruggles (October 8, 1789June 20, 1874) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. He served in several important state legislative and judicial positions before serving in the U.S. Senate.
Early life and career
Ruggles was ...
*
Invention Secrecy Act
The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 (, codified at ) is a body of United States federal law designed to prevent disclosure of new inventions and technologies that, in the opinion of selected federal agencies, present a possible threat to the n ...
*
NASA spinoff
NASA spinoff technologies are commercial products and services which have been developed with the help of NASA, through research and development contracts, such as Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or STTR awards, licensing of NASA patents ...
*
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also opera ...
*
Office of Independent Inventor Programs The Office of Independent Inventor Programs (OIIP) was a department of the United States Patent and Trademark Office established in March 1999. Its stated purpose was to "establish new mechanisms to better disseminate information about the patent an ...
(1999)
*
Old Patent Office Building
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
*
Patent Application Information Retrieval
Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) is an online service provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to allow users to see the prosecution histories of United States patents and patent applications and obtain copies of doc ...
(PAIR)
*
Patent Model
A patent model was a handmade miniature model no larger than 12" by 12" by 12" (approximately 30 cm by 30 cm by 30 cm) that showed how an invention works. It was one of the most interesting early features of the United States pate ...
*
Patent Office
*
Patent Office Professional Association The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) is a professional union of United States patent examiners. It was formed in 1964.POPA web site''About us'' Retrieved on August 15, 2012. "Professional Representation for Patent Professionals."
POPA ...
(POPA)
*
Science and technology in the United States
Science and technology in the United States has a long history, producing many important figures and developments in the field. The United States of America came into being around the Age of Enlightenment (1685 to 1815), an era in Western ph ...
*
Technological history of the United States
The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the United States' emergence as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. The availability of land and literate labor, the absence of a landed arist ...
*
Timeline of United States discoveries
*
Timeline of United States inventions The following articles cover the timeline of United States inventions:
*Timeline of United States inventions (before 1890), before the turn of the century
* Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945), before World War II
*Timeline of Unite ...
*
Yankee ingenuity
Yankee ingenuity is a self-made stereotype of inventiveness, technical solutions to practical problems, "know-how", self-reliance and individual enterprise associated with the Yankees, who originated in New England and developed much of the indust ...
*
1836 U.S. Patent Office fire
*
1877 U.S. Patent Office fire
The Patent Office fire of 1877 was the second of two major fires of the U.S. Patent Office. It occurred in the 1864 Patent Office Building of Washington, D.C., on September 24, 1877. The building was constructed to be fireproof, but many ...
References
Further reading
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External links
*
USPTOin the
Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
Searches(USPTO)
Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR)search by trademark serial number or registration number (USPTO)
Office of Enrollment & Discipline (OED)
Patent and Trademark Depository Library ProgramStopfakes.gov Small Business Resources
Patent Full-Text and Full-Page Image Databases(USPTO)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Patent And Trademark Office
Patent offices
Intellectual property organizations
United States trademark law
Agencies of the United States government
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent and Trademark Office
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